The Girlfriend
by xNomNomx
Summary: Dan and Phil's friendship is about as strong as one can be. But when Phil gets a girlfriend, everything goes down hill. How will Dan respond? A Phan fiction I worked on for over a month. You may or may not like it, but please review! I'm thinking about making part two, but I want to know the opinions on part one for now.
1. The Interview

_Chapter 1: The interview_

_**~Dan's POV~**_

"Phil get your ass out of bed, we're going to be late!" I shouted to Phil from the kitchen.

"_Mmmphn..." _I heard him groan in response.

We were going into town to meet with the people at Phil's new job. _It won't be his job at all if he doesn't get out of bed..._ I thought, irritated. "Phil!" I shouted once more.

"I'm up." Phil said sleepily as he walked into the kitchen. He was wearing his glasses and pajamas.

I looked at him wide eyed. "Phil why aren't you dressed yet?! We have to be there in a half hour!" I said, gesturing towards the door.

"Relax, I'm going to get dressed in a second, just let me check twitter." he said, casually strolling towards his laptop.

"Phil," I said, trying to be calm. "We have exactly 28 minutes to be at the interview and you're not ready. Can you _please_ go get dressed so we aren't late?" I asked in my sweetest tone.

Phil turned and looked at me, a smile on his face. "You'd think it's _your_ new job with all the fuss you're making." He laughed a little. "Okay, I'll be out in 10 minutes." he said walked off to his bedroom once more.

I let out a relieved breath. _Just calm down, Dan. _

I wanted Phil to get this job. He had been going on and on about it for weeks and when he finally landed an interview he was beyond excited. I loved to see Phil happy, and when he was happy, so was I.

Phil and I have been friends for a long time, that's for sure. I've just been feeling a bit different lately, though. No, I didn't have 'feelings' for Phil, but I have been seeing him differently. I loved to see his smile, the way his tongue poked out when he laughed, and when he acted silly when we made videos together, it just all made me feel so happy inside.

_**God, Daniel, you would think you have a man-crush on him**, _my conscience stepped in. I scowled at my brain. Sometimes these thoughts popped up and it got a bit annoying.

I looked at my watch. _9:43._ I took a deep breath and sighed. "Phil, we have to be there in 15 minutes!" I shouted.

"Okay, I'm almost ready!" he shouted back.

A few minutes later he came out in a red plaid shirt and dark skinny jeans. "Ready?" he said, smiling.

"I've been ready for an hour." I laughed.

We walked to the front door. "Don't forget, just smile and don't be nervous." I said, putting my hand on Phil's shoulder.

Phil nodded. His smile started to fade. "Dan?" he said.

"Hmm?"

We walked out the door to the street. "What if... What if I make myself look stupid?" he asked slowly.

I looked at him. "Phil, you're going to do great! The more nervous you make yourself, the more you're gonna mess up. Like I said, just smile and be yourself and they'll love you."

He looked up at me. "You really think so?"

"Definitely." I smiled at him. He smiled back.

I managed to track down a taxi and we gave our destination to the driver. We rode in silence as the radio played quietly.

We got to the front of the building and I payed our driver. "Thanks." he muttered and he drove off.

We turned and went into the building. As I stepped inside, it smelled of coffee and pastries.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Phil asked.

"Um..." I looked down at the paper I wrote the information on. "I don't know." I said, looking around.

"Should we ask?" Phil said, a sound of panic in his voice.

I turned to him. "You wait here, I'll go ask."

"Okay, thanks." he said, taking a deep breath.

I walked to the counter. "Hi, what can I get for you?" the girl behind the counter asked, smiling.

"Um, actually my friend is here for a job interview. Do you maybe know where we're supposed to go?" I asked, biting my lip.

She looked at me, her smile fading a bit. "Hold on, I'll go ask." she said. I stood there awkwardly for a few minutes. I took out my phone and pretended to start texting. After tapping my thumbs on the dark screen for a while, the girl returned. "Just go back there." she pointed to a door on the other side of the room.

I nodded and turned and gestured Phil to follow me. We walked up to the door and stopped. "...Should we knock?" I asked, a little hesitant.

"I don't know..." Phil said, quietly.

We continued to debate whether or not we should knock until the door opened. We stopped talking and looked at the man standing at the door. "Mr. Lester?" the man asked.

"T-that's me." Phil said.

The man smiled. "Hi, my name's Chris Foster." he stuck out his hand.

Phil shook it. "Hehehe that's funny, I have a friend named Chris..." he said, awkwardly.

"Oh, that's nice," Chris said, still smiling. "You guys can come in." he said, walking back in to his office. We followed after and sat down in the two black chairs on the opposite side of the his desk. Chris sat down in his chair and started going through the papers on his desk. "So, Mr. Lester-"

"You can call me Phil if you want." Phil cut in.

Chris nodded. "Okay, Phil. So I've reviewed your resume and I have a couple of questions for you, if that's okay." he said, pulling out one of the papers and settling it in front of him.

Phil looked at me. I nodded, giving him a little smile. "Um, sure, that's fine." Phil said.

"Okay." Chris looked up at us. "First, I would like to know why you would like to work for us."

Phil took a minute before answering. "Well, I can make really good coffee..." he said.

Chris laughed. "Okay, good answer I suppose, but I meant why would you like this job?"

"Oh." Phil said, blushing a little. "Well, to be honest, I need some more money for rent. So I've been looking for a job and figured since I come here a lot, why not work here?"

Chris nodded slowly. "You're honest, I like that. Okay, the last thing I want to know is how well do you work with others?"

"I like working with other people." Phil smiled.

Chris nodded again and smiled. "Well then congratulations, Mr. Lester, you've got the job. Can you start Monday?"

"Of course!" Phil said, excitedly.

"Then I'll see you Monday. Thank you for coming in." Chris stood up and held out his hand again.

We stood up as well. "Thank you very much." Phil said, shaking his hand.


	2. The Celebration

_Chapter 2: The Celebration_

"I can't believe it! I got the job!" Phil said. He had been saying the same thing for the last hour, but I didn't mind. I was really happy for him.

"I'm happy for you!" I said, giving him a smile from my place on the couch.

Phil was pacing around the room. "We should do something!"

"Huh?" I asked, still scrolling through tumblr.

"We should celebrate! Do something special, you know." Phil said, sitting at the other end of the couch.

"What do you want to do? It's only after noon." I said, sitting upright so Phil could have more room.

"Well, I'm not saying it has to be right _now_,but we should do something to celebrate." he said, smiling.

I smiled back at him. "Okay, sounds like fun. What do you want to do?"

"We can do anything you want." he said.

"No, you're the one who got the job, _you _should pick." I said.

"Okay, fine. Would you like lunch?" he asked getting up and going off towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, be my bitch and make me a sandwich." I said, smiling.

"Dan, I'm not your bitch." Phil laughed, walking out of the room.

I clicked open another tab and opened twitter. As I scrolled through my timeline, I saw endless tweets to Phil congratulating him on his new job. I retweeted a few, and made a tweet myself. '_ AmazingPhil Congrats on your new job! Maybe now you can give me free coffee ;)_'. I clicked _tweet_ and continued to scrolled some more. My phone buzzed next to me. I picked it up and saw a tweet from Phil. '_ Danisnotonfire no free coffee for you! Now get in here and make your sandwich_'. I laughed and went to my laptop to respond. '_ AmazingPhil you offered to make me lunch! Now get back to the cooking :)_' I hit _tweet_ and waited for the response. A new tweet came onto my timeline a few seconds after. '_ Danisnotonfire Daniel, I'm not your private chef._'

I smiled and got up off the couch and stretched. I walked off towards the kitchen, not really watching where I was going. _CRACK!_ My little toe hit the door frame. "**Ow**, **fuck**!" I nearly screamed in pain.

Phil came rushing into the room as I held my foot. "What happened?!" he asked.

"I almost broke my freaking toe, that's what happened." I said.

"Are you okay?" Phil said, kneeling down next to me.

"Yeah, I think so. Can you go get me some ice?" I asked, moving my toe slightly to see if it was broken. Thankfully it wasn't.

"Sure, I'll be right back." Phil said, getting up and going off to the freezer. I sat there, still wiggling my toes. Phil came back with a little bag of ice. "There." he smiled, handing me the plastic bag.

I took it and held it to my foot. "Phil?" I asked.

"What?"

"You know what would make me feel a lot better?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "What?"

"A turkey sandwich." I grinned widely.

He laughed. "Okay, fine. Go sit down and I'll make your sandwich."

"You ready yet?" I asked, pulling on my jacket.

"Almost. Can you go grab my hoodie?" Phil said, shutting down the computer.

I turned to him. "Are you sure you don't want a jacket? It's starting to snow."

He looked out the window. Sure enough, white flakes were coming down. "Yeah, I guess I should wear a jacket." he said, getting up and going to the closet. He searched through the various garments. "Dan, do you know where my jacket is?"

"No, I haven't seen it since yesterday." I said, fixing my hair in the mirror.

"But it's not here." he said, still shuffling through the closet.

I sighed and walked over to the closet to help him search. "Phil, it's got to be in there. It's not like it grew legs and walked out the door."

"But it's not here." he repeated.

"Go check your room, I'll check through the closet again." I instructed him. He obediently went off as I started looking. When I didn't see it, I stopped, perplexed. _If it's not here, then where could it be? _"Phil, did you find it?" I called out.

"No." he called back.

"Well you can't go out with out a jacket, you'll catch a cold, and you can't go into work on Monday with a cold." I said, checking once more.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" he asked, walking up next to me.

"Well, we could do something here?" I suggested.

"But Dan, I wanted to go out and celebrate." Phil whined.

"I know, I know, just hear me out," I said, holding a hand up to stopped him. " We could order some pizza, invite Pj and Chris, and blow up balloons and do the whole party-thing." I said.

Phil pursed his lips. "Okay, that could work."he nodded.

"Great! You call Chris and Pj and I'll order the pizza." I said, pulling out my phone.

"Okay." Phil pulled out his phone as well and walked off.

After I ordered the pizza, I went to see what Phil was doing. As I went to his room, I heard him still talking. _Probably still talking to Chris or PJ..._I thought. I slowly knocked on his door and opened it. "_Are you almost done?_" I mouthed. He nodded and I went back out to the living room.

"They both said they would love to come over. They'll be here in a little while." Phil said, coming out into the living room a few minutes later.

"Okay, do you want to help me blow up balloons in the mean time?" I asked.

"Sure." He smiled.

_Knock knock knock! _A knock on the door startled us. "I'll get it!" Phil said, jumping up to get the door.

I muted the tv and turned to see Chris and Pj coming in. "Hi guys!" I said.

"Hey Dan!" Pj and Chris said in unison.

"The pizza will be here any time." I said.

They nodded, taking their coats off. "I brought alcohol!" Chris said in a sing-song voice, holding up a bottle of wine.

"You didn't have to bring anything, guys." I smiled, taking the bottle.

"Well, we figured it wouldn't be much of a party with out some _excitement._" Chris said.

"Right." I chuckled, taking the bottle to the kitchen to put it in some glasses.

I heard the muffled talking from the living room and could tell Chris and Pj were hounding Phil for details on his job. I poured the red liquid into four of our fancier glasses, which to be honest weren't as fancy as you'd think, and shouted for them to come get their glasses.

"So Phil, any chance we could get some free coffee sometime?" Pj said, poking Phil in the shoulder.

"I'm not giving free coffee to anyone!" Phil laughed.

They walked into the kitchen as I started sipping at my wine. I didn't want too much to drink tonight, because too much drinking lead to too much hang over.

They each grabbed one and started drinking too. Phil looked a bit hesitant, and I could tell he probably didn't want to drink too much either.

I smiled. _See, I'm not that much of a loser. I'm partying on a Saturday night. _

"... Dan?" Pj waved a hand in front of my face.

I looked up, not realizing I drifted off. "Hmm?"

Pj laughed. "I _said_, what do you think about Phil's new job?"

"Oh," I said, the question catching me by surprise. "Well, I... think it's great!" I grinned.

"It is great, isn't it!" Phil said happily.

I just smiled wider. _He's so cute when he gets excited..._ I thought to myself. My eyes went wide. _Whoa whoa whoa! Did you just say Phil was __**cute**__? That's a little too far, Dan. _

"Dan, are you okay?" Pj asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I swallowed hard. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, you don't seem to be breathing..." Pj said slowly.

"I'm fine, really." I gave them a reassuring smile.

"Okay, if you're sure."

I nodded.

"Then let's get this party started, shall we?" Chris said, pouring more wine in each of our glasses.

I opened my eyes to see bright sun light pouring in the window. "_Mmph..._" I groaned as I sat up, holding my head. I looked around and saw Pj and Chris passed out on the floor and Phil passed out on the opposite end of the couch.

I got up to get some pain medicine for my throbbing head. Memories from the previous night slowly started drifting back.

"_Are you sure you don't want more wine, Dan?" Chris asked, holding up the bottle. _

"_Hmm, okay, maybe just a _little_ more." I smiled, holding out my glass._

…

"_Who wants to play spin the bottle?!" Chris exclaimed, clearly drunk and hanging onto Pj. _

"_Meeeee!" Pj said. _

"_I think we're okay, you two have fun with that." I hiccuped. _

…

"_I don't think I could eat another piece of pizza for the rest of my life." I groaned, unbuckling my belt buckle. _

"_Uh-oh, Dan's stripping for us!" Phil said, now slightly drunk as well. _

_I giggled. "Stop it, Phil! I'm not stripping... unless you want me to?" I winked at him, which caused him to giggle as well._

_..._

"_You guys are too drunk to go home alone," I slurred. "You two can sleep here tonight." I said. _

"_But where would we sleep?" Chris asked. _

_I pointed to where Pj was laying on the floor, already asleep._

…

"Ugh, what a night." I said quietly, throwing back the pills with some water.

I walked back into the living room where everyone was still asleep. I walked slowly to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

As I got in the shower, the water felt like a sweet, warm Heaven.

"_Stop it, Phil! I'm not stripping... unless you want me to?" _The line from last night kept repeating in my head.

_What did I mean 'unless you want me to'? Was I really offering to strip for Phil?_ I thought.

_**Maybe I was right. Maybe you** **do** **have a man-crush on Phil...** _My conscience piped up.

I scowled at my brain again. _I don't have any kind of crush on Phil. He's my best friend for fuck's sake! _

_**I'm just saying, Dan, you two would make a cute pair...** _my conscience argued. It was almost as if my own brain was trying to ship me with Phil.

I took a deep breath. _We would not make a cute pair, because we're not gay. And even if I was gay, who's to say Phil would be too? _

_**So you're saying that if Phil was gay you would take a shot at it? **_

_No! That's not what I'm saying at a-_

"Dan are you in there?" Phil's voice sounded from outside the bathroom door.

"Uh, yeah," I called back. "I'm almost done."

"Okay, no rush." Phil said. He almost sounded sleepy.

I realized that I was starting to turn into a prune. I finished washing my hair and got out of the shower, not bothering to continue arguing with my brain any more, and dried off.


	3. The First Day At Work

_A/N: I know **nothing** about Starbucks. Never even been in one. So anything written from here on out is purely my imagination. ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 3: The First Day At Work_

"_Daaaaaan_!" Phil called from the living room.

"What, Phil?" I called back.

"Do we have any more pain medicine? My head still hurts."

I sighed. Apparently Phil had drank more than me last night, believe it or not, and he wasn't feeling his sunniest today. "Yes, I'll get you some, just lay there and rest."

"Okay..." he groaned.

I poured two pills out of the bottle and got a cup of cold water. I walked in and saw Phil laying on our couch in his pajamas and some slippers. I grinned. "Here you go, your highness."

He opened his eyes and smiled a little. "Thanks." He sat up slowly and took the pills and water. "Dan?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I do anything silly last night? I don't feel like trying to remember." he asked, swallowing the pills and water.

I paused.

"_Uh-oh, Dan's stripping for us!"_

"_Stop it, Phil! I'm not stripping... unless you want me to?"_

"Uh, I can't really remember either." I lied.

"Okay." he sounded slightly relieved.

_**Anything to hide, Dan?**_

_Shut up..._ I told my brain.

"So are you feeling any better?" I asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling sick anymore, just a bit of a throbbing head ache." he said, sipping at his water.

"That's good." I smiled.

He nodded, smiling back.

We fell into awkward silence again.

"I think it's snowing again." he said, pointing to the window.

Snow flakes were falling past our window, bright against the dark night.

"It's almost Christmas." I said, smiling at the snow.

"Just another month!" Phil said excitedly.

"When are we getting our advent calendars?" I asked.

"... I don't know." he said after a minute.

"We have a few days, don't worry." I chuckled.

"I know, I know." He smiled.

He suddenly let out a big yawn. "Getting tired?" I laughed.

"Just a little. I think I'm going to go to bed early since I have to get up for work in the morning." he said, standing up and stretching before heading to his room.

"What time do you have to be there tomorrow?" I asked, following after.

"8:00 I think." he said, yawning again.

"Okay, goodnight." I said and headed to my room.

"G'night." he called back.

I walked into my room and shut the door. I wasn't very tired, so I decided to scroll twitter. I retweeted a few more tweets wishing Phil luck on his first day. After a while, I started getting bored of twitter and switched to tumblr.

I must have reblogged about a thousand pictures until I finally checked the time on my phone.

_2:56 a.m. _

My eyes went wide. _How did I manage to spend 5 hours on the internet?! _

I sighed. I got up and changed into my pajamas and got into bed. I just accepted the fact that I wasn't going to be up in time to wish Phil luck on his first day.

I closed my eyes. _Good luck tomorrow, Phil. _

_**~Phil's POV~**_

_Beep Beep Beep! _My alarm rang.

I opened my eyes a little and looked at the time.

_7:00 a.m._

I groaned. _I am **not** made to get up this early... _I thought as I rolled out of bed.

I did a zombie-walk to the bathroom to take my shower and get ready.

**Le shower time...**

After I got out of the shower, I put on some simple dark skinny jeans and a white shirt. As I finished straightening my hair I checked my phone for the time.

_7:34 a.m._

I nodded, impressed. _I'm making good time... _I thought.

I grabbed my phone and walked out to the living room to get my-

I stopped. _My coat! I can't go to work in the freezing with out a coat!_ I thought, panicking.

I frantically ran back to my room to search again. _I am not going to be late on my first day just because I can't find my freaking coat._ I scowled.

After trashing my room and not finding anything, I just accepted my fate.

I walked to Dan's room and peaked inside. _Still asleep..._ I didn't want to wake him up.

I checked my phone one last time.

_7:42 a.m._

I took a deep breath and sighed. I walked to our closet and tried to decide what to do. I looked through, but all I could find was Dan's coat. _I could borrow his, just for today... _I thought, weighing my options.

I realized I had no time to think. I put on Dan's coat and ran out the door.

**Le taxi ride...**

I paid the taxi driver and got out. I walked in the doors and was greeted with the soothing smell of coffee. I smiled.

"Ah, Phil, you made it!" Chris said, startling me a little. I hadn't noticed him sitting in the chair nearest to me. "I thought you weren't going to make it." He smiled and gestured to the seat across from him.

"Yeah, I was just running a bit late, that's all." I said nervously.

"I hope that won't be a regular thing." Chris said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it won't! I promise!" I said quickly.

Chris laughed. "I'm just poking fun at ya. You're actually here a bit earlier than I expected, seeing that you're new."

"Well, I like to be on time." I smiled.

Chris nodded. "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

"Good." I said.

"So since your a new employee, we'll have you start out simple," Chris said. "How's working up front sound?"

"Up... front?" I asked, confused. He pointed at the counter. "Oh, yeah, that should be okay." I said slowly.

"You don't sound very confident." Chris laughed.

"Oh, no, it's just... I'm not familiar with working 'up front'."

"Don't worry, I'll have someone train ya. It's not as hard as it seems." Chris got up and gestured for me to follow. I got up too, and we went to his office. He shut the door behind us and sat down at his desk.

"So what's the first order of business?" I asked.

"First, you'll need this," he said, handing me a green apron. "And then I'll have your trainer come and meet ya."

I took the apron and nodded. "Who's my trainer?"

"I'll go get him now." he said, getting up and walking out the door. I sat there awkwardly until Chris returned a moment later with another guy. He had tan skin and dark brown hair and a pretty decent smile. "Phil, I'd like you to meet Kenny. Kenny, this is your new trainee, Phil."

"Hey." Kenny said, holding out his hand with a smile.

"Hi." I smiled back and shook his hand.

"Ken, can you take Phil out and show him the basics before another rush starts pouring in?" Chris asked.

"Sure." Kenny nodded. He lead me out of the room and to the counter.

I looked around. _It really doesn't look that complicated..._ I thought.

"Basically, all you have to do is take the customer's order, then have them pay for it. Pretty easy."

"That doesn't sound that hard." I said, putting on the green apron.

"It really isn't. And since you're only going to be watching for a while, you'll have a pretty easy time." he smiled.

"Great! I can't wait." I said, getting excited.

Just then, a girl walked in the door. "Perfect, now just watch." he said, bringing me over.

She gave him her order, which I didn't pay much attention to.

"Okay, is that all?" Kenny asked, pressing buttons on the cash register.

"Yes."

I started looking around as Kenny got the girl's drink. There wasn't much to see, just the normal Starbucks theme. Kenny came back and gave the girl her drink and gave her the change. "See? It's that simple." he said after the girl left.

I nodded. "I guess that's not that hard..."

"Great! With a little more training, you could have this all down. You have real potential." He smiled.

_Potential for a cashier? _I mentally laughed. "Okay." I nodded.

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I opened my eyes and saw it was actually sunny outside instead of being cloudy and snowy. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I grabbed my phone to check the time. _12:36 p.m._.

I slowly got out of bed and wandering into the kitchen. "Phil, time for lunch!" I called towards Phil's room.

Silence.

Then I remembered that he was at work. I frowned a little. _It's so empty here with out Phil to make me lunch..._ I thought. Then an idea hit me. I ran and got dressed and went to grab my coat. I shuffled through the closet, but didn't see it. _Where is it...? _I thought, getting a bit frustrated.

I finally gave up and just put on another hoodie and went out the door.

I walked into the double doors and smiled. I walked up to the counter, waiting. I saw Phil, not facing the counter, who was chatting with another employee.

"_Ahem,_" I cleared my throat to get his attention.

"I think ya got a customer, Philly. Why don't you try what I've taught ya?" the other employee said to Phil, and then he walked away.

Phil nodded. "Hi, what would yo-" Phil turned and said, but stopped when he saw me. "Dan?"

"Hey!" I said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here cuz you weren't at home to make me lunch."

Phil rolled his eyes. "Dan, I'm still not going to make you lunch, I'm working."

"I know, I know. But look, I brought sandwiches!" I said, holding up the brown paper bag I had brought along.

"Uhhh..." Phil looked around. "Hey Kenny, can I take my lunch break?" he called to the employee he was talking to earlier.

"Yeah, but be back in a half hour." Kenny called back.

"Okay." Phil turned to me and smiled. "Okay, let's have lunch." We walked to a table and sat down. Phil took off his green apron and put in on a seat next to him. "So you actually made sandwiches with no adult supervision?" Phil teased.

"Shut up." I laughed, handing him a sandwich. We started eating in comfortable silence. "So how's it going so far?" I asked, taking another bite.

"It's pretty good. It's not as hard as it looks, but it's a little complicated at first."

I nodded. "So who's that guy?" I pointed to the guy Phil was talking to earlier.

"The Kenny, he's my trainer. He's pretty nice." Phil said with a smile.

"Does he always refer to you as 'Philly'?" I asked, holding back a laugh. The last time I heard someone call Phil 'Philly' was at Summer In The City one year when a random girl had met us.

"Yeah, it's a bit annoying, but I want to get on his good side. I don't want him to think I'm too uptight or anything."

I ate the last bite of my sandwich and crumpled up the bag. "Awe, he has a pet name for you!" I said in a mockingly.

"It's not a pet name!" Phil laughed.

"Phil, are you almost ready to get back to work?" Kenny called to Phil.

"Uh, yeah, hold on." Phil said. "I have to get back to work, I'll see you at home." He smiled and got up and put his apron back on.

"Okay, bye." I smiled.


	4. A Better Day At Work

_A/N: Important announcement: Unfortunately, I forgot that they make videos for a living, therefore no videos will be filmed in the making of this fan fiction. Sorry! ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 4: A Better Day At Work_

"Dan, I'm home!" I heard Phil call from the living room.

I hopped off my bed and walked out to greet him. "Hey! How was your first day?"

Phil sighed. "Well... It's a pretty simple job, but some people seem to think I can do things in 5 seconds. It was okay, I guess." Phil frowned a little.

I felt kind of bad for Phil. It has to be pretty hard doing that under a lot of pressure. "Don't let it get you down," I said, "I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

Phil looked at me."Well... I'm not sure if... I'm going to keep the job..." Phil said quietly, looking down at his feet.

My eyes went wide. "But Phil, you've been wanting that job for ages now! Don't let a few twats get to you." I tried to encourage him. I didn't want him to give up this job that he'd tried so hard to get in the first place.

"Yeah, but you don't know how mean people can be! It's like if I'm not doing something right, they feel the need to yell at me! What would you do in my situation?" Phil said, clearly frustrated.

I didn't say anything, his outburst taking me by surprise. "Phil," I said, trying to calm him down. "You don't have to keep the job if you don't want to, but maybe you could atleast _consider_ giving it another chance, and then if you want to quit you can. It's your choice."

Phil seemed to consider this. "... Fine. I'll go _just_ for tomorrow, but if I don't like it, I'm quitting." He grumpily stormed off to his room and shut the door.

I stood there, not knowing what else to do. _Well, that didn't go as well as planned... _I thought.

I walked back to my room, getting back on twitter. I decided to give Phil a while to cool down. He deserved it, after all.

I scrolled through the tweets on my timeline, not seeing anything really important, so I switched over to my mentions. Then some tweets caught my eye.

_Where's the Super Amazing Project?!_

_Dan, get off your lazy bum and load SAP!_

_is s.a.p. gonna be uploaded at 3 am again? _

_Shit, _I thought. _We forgot to film the Super Amazing Project!_

I got off my bed and went to Phil's door, opening it and peaking in. Phil was sprawled out on his bed, sleeping. I shut his door quietly and went back to my room. _Well that's a definite no on filming tonight... _

I sat back down on my bed and made a tweet.

_Yo peepz, SAP won't be up this week due to Phil's new job. Maybe next week! _

I clicked _tweet _and closed my laptop. _Hopefully tomorrow will be better. _

_**~Phil's POV~**_

_Beep Beep Beep! _

I woke up slowly as my alarm went off. I shut it off and got up, not feeling my best.

_I really don't want to go to work today... _I thought as I walked to the bathroom. Work probably wouldn't be any better today, so I didn't bother going all out with my appearance like I did yesterday.

I casually got a shower, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. I looked at the clock to see what time it was. _7:31 a.m._.

_I'm done a little early... _I thought, not knowing what to do now.

I decided to just get going, because it's better to be early than to be late.

…

I walked through door, shivering from the bitter cold. I took my coat, or rather, _Dan's _coat off, and put my green apron on.

I was prepared for a hard day like yesterday, and I couldn't find Kenny anywhere.

_Darn, he's probably got the day off today. _I thought miserably. _Well, might as well get today over and done with. _

"Thankyou, come again." I said as I gave the man his coffee.

"Yup." he said, and then walked out the door.

_Well have a nice day to you too. _I thought bitterly. I had just gotten over the lunch-time-rush, and now I had time to atleast breath for more than 3 seconds.

By this point, I really wanted to just walk into Mr. Foster's office, throw my apron on his desk, and be on my way, but I knew Dan wouldn't approve of that very much. The thought of doing that still lingered in the back of my mind, though.

_Maybe I should just quit. I mean, this job doesn't pay very good, the people here are very rude, and not to mention that I don't even _get_ free coffee. _

I looked towards Mr. Foster's office. _Well, I have no real reason to stay..._

"Hello?" A hand waved in front of my face. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the person. It was a girl, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a wide smile. "Is anybody home?" she giggled.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I was just zoning out." I smiled awkwardly back.

"That's okay. You looked so peaceful, I almost didn't want to bother you."

"Hehe, yeah. Um, what can I get ya?" I asked, still smiling. This girl didn't seem rude like the others, she just seemed... normal.

"Um, just a regular cup of black coffee, please." she said, handing me some money.

"Sure thing." I nodded, getting her coffee and giving her the change.

"So, uh... you don't look very busy, would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?" she asked, giving me a shy smile again.

Her question took me by surprise. _This girl I've never met before wants to have coffee with me..._ "Um, sure! I'd love to!" I said, taking off my apron and getting a cup of coffee for me.

"Great! Come sit down."

We walked over to one of the tables and sat down. "So, what's your name?" I asked.

"Bethany. Yours?"

"My name's Phil." I said with a small grin.

"That's a cute name." she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

_A cute name? Is that a good thing? _"Er, thanks. Bethany is a cute name, too."

"Thanks," she smiled. "So Phil, tell me, why did you agree to have coffee with me?"

"Well, you seemed... nice. You're not rude like most of the people that come through here. Why did you ask to have coffee with me?"

"You seemed lonely." she said simply.

"Gee, thanks." I laughed.

"No, that's not what I meant," she laughed, too. "I meant you looked a little down and I thought you could use some cheering up. It's got to be quite stressful to have a job like this." She paused. "Come to think of it, I've never even seen you in here before."

"Yeah, this is only my second day here." I said.

"Only your second day and you're dealing with the jerks that come in here? No wonder you looked so depressed." I nodded. That pretty much summed up my entire job experience so far. "So how old are you?"

"I'm 25, almost 26," I said. "You?"

"24 years young." she said with a smile.

"You look a lot older." I said, surprised.

"Is that a good thing?" she laughed.

"Well, I mean..." I fumbled for words.

"It's fine, Phil." She smiled. "So do you have a girlfriend...? Or a boyfriend...?" she asked, taking another sip of her coffee.

I inhaled a little of my coffee, causing me to cough a little. "A boyfriend? You think I'm gay?" I asked after I stopped coughing.

"No! I mean... I was just wondering if you were seeing anybody?" she said, blushing a little. She looked a little embarrassed.

I smiled. "Nope. I'm as single as they come." I said.

"Great. How about you call me sometime? Here's my number." she took a napkin and pulled out a pen from her pocket. She wrote a phone number on the napkin and handed it to me. "I have to go, but I'd love to meet up with you again." she said, smiling wide, exposed her pure white teeth.

I nodded. "I'll call you as soon as I can. Bye, Bethany." I waved.

"Bye Phil." she waved back as she walked out the door.


	5. The First Date

_Chapter 5: The First Date_

I was ready to go as soon as the clock stuck 3:00. I grabbed Dan's coat and ran out the door, tracking down the first taxi in sight.

As I climbed in the back seat and gave the driver my address, I started fidgeting. _This nice girl I've never met before has asked me to call her. How does this happen to a guy like me?! I'm not some attractive, cool guy with a high paying job. I'm just some average, awkward guy working at Starbucks, who, until the very last second, was going to be unemployed all together... _

"Alright, here ya are." the driver said, pulling up to our building.

"Thanks." I said, climbing out and running to the door.

I finally got to our door, too excited to even unlock it. "Dan, Dan, Dan!" I shouted at the door.

A couple seconds later, Dan opened the door. "Hey Phil! Looks like someone had a better day at work." Dan smiled, letting me into the door.

"You bet I did! I met a girl today." I said, taking off Dan's coat.

"Wait, what? You met... a girl?"

"Yeah! Her name's Bethany and she wants me to call her!" I said excitedly.

"Wait, wait, wait. Phil, I think you're leaving out bits of the story." Dan said.

I sighed. "Okay, so I was just about to go into Chris's office and quit-"

"Phil, I told you to give it another day." Dan said.

" I know, I know. Just listen, okay? Okay, anyway, so I this person was trying to get my attention, and I looked up and it was a girl! She was really nice, unlike most of the people. Then she asked me if I wanted to have coffee with her-" Dan opened his mouth to say something, but I gave him a look and he stopped. "-and I said yes, and it turns out her name is Bethany, she's 24 years old, and she wants me to meet her again!" I said. I had to take a couple of breathes, after not breathing almost all story.

"Wow..." Dan said, clearly surprised.

"'Wow'? That's all you have to say? Dan, I may have a girlfriend! You know how long it's been since I last had a girlfriend?"

"I know, it's just... a lot to take in, I guess. I mean, you went to work today hating your job, then you come home and you're loving life."

I paused. He did have a point. "Yeah, but aren't you happy for me?"

"... Of course I'm happy for you!" Dan said after a moment. He gave me a small smile. "So, what would you like for dinner?"

_**~Dan's POV~**_

_Phil has a girlfriend... _The thought replayed in my head over and over again. _Why does this bother me so much? _

_**Maybe because you like him...? **_My conscience put in.

_Not now, brain..._ I thought. _This isn't the time for you're stupid jokes. _

_**Well, then why does it bother you so much...? **_

_I don't know! _I thought, frustrated.

I closed my laptop, not feeling in an 'internet-mood'. This really shouldn't bother me that much, but yet it still did.

Was I worried that this girl would take Phil away from me?

Was I worried this girl would hurt Phil?

Was I worried that this girl would be a total bitch?

They all seemed like valid reasons, but none of them seemed right. I walked out of my room. As I walked past Phil's room, I heard him talking. _Probably talking to that girl... _I thought bitterly. I listened to Phil's door for a moment.

"I don't know... what do you wanna do?" Phil laughed.

"…"

"Well you should decide too!" Phil laughed again.

"…"

"Okay, fine. We should..."

"…"

"Yes that's perfect! I'll see you there."

"…"

"Okay, bye."

I grimaced at his door. The way he talked to her... it was almost sickly lovey-dovey.

_I just don't want to see him hurt... _I thought, walking to the kitchen. Then it dawned on me. _Is that the reason I don't like this girl? Because she might hurt Phil? _

This didn't make any sense. I had this tense feeling in my stomach when I thought about the subject.

"Dan?" Phil called from his room.

"In the kitchen." I called back.

He walked into the kitchen a moment later. "I just talked to Bethany-"

"Yeah, I know." I said, a little more stiffly than I meant to.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked.

I closed the fridge, where I was looking for a snack. "Nothing, nothing at all." I sighed. "So you talked to Bethany?" I said.

"Yeah," Phil continued. "and we're going out tomorrow night. Is that okay?"

"Why are you asking me? It's your love life." I sneered.

Phil didn't say anything. I looked over at him. He looked a little hurt. "Dan, really, is something bothering you? You know you can talk to me." Phil said, coming over and putting a hand on my shoulder.

I looked at the ground. _What am I supposed to tell him? That I don't like his girlfriend, even though I've never met her? _

"Nothing is bothering me Phil. I'll see you when you get home tomorrow. I'm going to bed, good night." I gave him a small smile and retreated to my bedroom.

"Oh, okay. Good night." Phil called.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

_Almost break time..._ I thought. Today's work didn't seem as bad as yesterday's. I guess it's because I had something to look forward to tonight.

I felt kind of back leaving for work without talking to Dan about what was bothering him last night, but I knew that if I had woken him up at 7:30 a.m., he would be in an even worst mood.

I heard the little bell on the door ring as someone came in, and I looked up to see Bethany walking up to the counter. "Hey Phil!" she said with a grin.

"Hey Beth! What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, I'm glad to see you too." she laughed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," I smiled. "I was just wondering since our date isn't scheduled until tonight?"

"I know, I just thought I'd come and visit you on your break." She said.

"Okay." I smiled. "I'll be off in a couple minutes, if you want to go sit down. Do you want some coffee?" I asked.

"Sure." She smiled.

"Okay, black coffee?" I asked, going to get it.

"Yup, I'll be waiting."

She walked over to the table we sat at yesterday and waited. I poured us bother some coffee, her's black and mine my usual.

I came over and sat the tray of coffee down. "So how's your day been?" I asked, sitting down and taking off my apron.

"Pretty good, I just went shopping and then came here. How about yours?" she asked, blowing on her coffee to cool it down.

"The usual," I sighed, "I didn't get yelled at today, though. I think I'm getting better."

"That's good." She smiled.

"Yup." We fell into a bit of an awkward silence as we drank our coffee.

"So are we still going out to eat after you get off work?" she asked.

"Mhm," I nodded. "Where would you like to go?"

"Anywhere is fine. I'm not real picky when it comes to first dates."

"Okay."

Another awkward silence.

"Did you talk to your room mate about tonight?" she asked.

"What?" I asked, a little confused by what she meant.

"About tonight? You know, if he was okay with it? You said you guys were really close."

"Yeah we are really close," I said, smiling. "He said he was okay with it." I left out the part about him being in a bad mood. That part still confused me.

"Okay, good. I didn't want to make a bad first impression on him. When am I going to meet him?"

"Um... I don't know. When would you like to meet him?" I asked.

She paused, thinking. "How about tonight, before we go out?"

"How would that work?"

"I could come to your apartment, meet your room mate, then we can go on our way."

I nodded. "Okay, that could work."

"What if he doesn't like me, though?" she asked, frowning a little.

"Why wouldn't he like you?"

"I don't know, sometimes I just worry about that kind of stuff I guess." She said.

"It'll be fine, I promise. He'll love you." I said with a smile.

"I hope so." She smiled back. She pulled up her sleeve and looked at her watch. "I have to get going, I'll see you tonight." She said, getting up.

"Okay, bye." I said, giving her a hug.

She hugged me back and left, taking her coffee with her.

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I moped around the house most of the day, not really knowing what to do. Phil would be home any minute, only to leave again.

I heard the door open and shut and guessed Phil was home. "Is that you, Phil?" I called.

"Yeah, I'm home." he called back.

I walked out to the living room, happy that Phil was finally home. "It's getting to be so empty here with out you around all day." I said.

"I'm sorry. I miss being home all day, too." he said, giving me a sympathetic smile.

"When are you leaving?" I asked.

"Um, Beth said she would be here in about an hour, so-"

"Wait, she's coming _here_?"

"Yeah, she said she wanted to meet you, isn't that great?" He smiled.

"Yeah. I, uh, can't wait to meet her, too!" I said as convincingly as I could.

"Good! I have a feeling you two are going to get along great." he said happily, going off to his room to get changed.

"Yeah, I bet we are." I said under my breath, sarcastically.

After an hour of Phil asking me about his outfit and hair, and his constant worrying, his date finally arrived.

Phil opened the door and a girl with wavy blonde hair stood at the door. "Hi Phil! Are you ready?" she asked.

I tried to slump into the couch so I wouldn't be noticed.

"Yeah. Would you like to come in?" he asked.

_No, don't ask her to come in!_

"I would love to! Where's your room mate?" she asked.

_Damn. _I thought, debating whether I could run to my room without being noticed.

"He's over there on the couch, being a potato. Dan, come say hi to Beth!" he said.

I got up slowly and put my best smile on. I walked over to the girl and put my hand out. "Hello Beth, my name's Dan. Nice to meet you." I said.

She shook my hand. "Hi Dan!" she said with a big smile. She looked at me for a moment. "Wow, you're even taller than Phil!" she said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I said awkwardly.

We stood there for a few seconds, looking at one another.

"Well, would you like to get going?" Phil said, finally breaking the silence.

"Sure! It was nice to meet you Dan." she said.

"You too." I nodded.

"I'll be back in a while Dan, try not to make a mess while I'm gone." Phil joked and then they left.

_Alone again... _

_**~Phil's POV~ **_

"I had a really great time tonight." Beth said as we walked along the street, holding hands.

"So did I." I said, smiling down at her.

She looked at her watch. "I should probably get home or my sister is going to send the police out looking for me." she laughed.

"Okay, I'll take you home." I said, tracking down a taxi.

She gave the driver her address and we rode to her house in comfortable silence, still holding hands. It wasn't really awkward any more, which was a good thing.

"Okay, here ya are, Miss." The driver said.

"Thank you." she said, unbuckling her seat belt. She turned to me. "Thanks again for a great night, Phil." she said, then leaned up and kissed me. She got out of the taxi and walked to her door.

"Do you still need to go somewhere?" the driver asked me.

"Uh, yeah." I said, still frozen where I was. It took me a few minutes to think of our apartment location. I finally told him and he drove me home.

I opened our apartment door and walked in, still in slight shock from the kiss. I mean, sure I've been kissed before but her's just seemed... _different_.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, disrupting my thoughts. I took it out, answering it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"_Hi Phil! It's me, Bethany." _Bethany's voice rang on the other side.

"Oh, hi Beth! I just got home. What's up?"

"_I just wanted to see if you wanted to... um... maybe meet up again this weekend?" _

"Uh..." I paused, trying to think if me and Dan were doing anything this weekend.

"_It's okay if you can't, I understand..." _

"No! I mean, yes! I'd love to! I don't think I'm doing anything this weekend." I smiled.

"_Great! I'll see you then! Bye, Phil." _

"Bye." I smiled, ending the call.

I nodded my head in satisfaction. _I have a second date! _


	6. A Sad Daniel

_A/N: I'm sorry for how straight forward this chapter is. My writing skills were certainly lacking during this section (But then again, when aren't I lacking writing skills?) ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 6: A Sad Daniel_

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I heard Phil come in. I got up from my bed, where I was almost asleep, and went to see how his date went.

As I walked out of my room and down the hall, I heard Phil talking. _Damn, he probably brought that girl home. _I thought, already forgetting her name.

"Hello?" I heard Phil say.

_He must be on the phone. _I thought, relieved. I don't think I could stand having that girl spend the night.

"Oh, hi Beth! I just got home. What's up?"

_Oh yeah, her name's Beth... _I remembered. I didn't really care, though. I stayed hidden in the hall, not wanting to interrupt Phil's conversation.

"Uh... No! I mean, yes! I'd love to! I don't think I'm doing anything this weekend."

My mouth dropped open. _Did Phil forget that we were going to hang out this weekend? He promised me we would go Christmas shopping together..._ I thought.

"Bye." Phil said. I didn't hear anything else, so I guessed that he was done.

I waited a few seconds before walking out so it wouldn't seem like I was just standing here.

I took a deep breath and put on a smile. "Hey Phil! How was your date?" I asked, rounding the corner into the living room.

"Great! I got a second date! I think she likes me." Phil said smugly.

I nodded, not really knowing what to say. "That's good!" I said.

"Yeah! And guess what? She kissed me! When I took her home she thanked me for a 'great night' and then kissed me!" Phil said excitedly.

I nodded again. I was debating whether or not to bring up that we had plans this weekend. "Uh, Phil? About this weeke-" I said quietly, but Phil cut in.

"I really think she might be the one, Dan." Phil smiled.

That stopped me. _How can I bring that up when he's this happy? …I guess there's always next weekend... _I thought. "I'm really happy for you Phil." I said quietly, giving him a smile.

"Thanks, Dan. I really appreciate your support." Phil said, smiling back.

"Yup," I said. "Well, it's getting kind of late, I think I'm going to head back to bed. 'Night, Phil, good luck at work tomorrow." I said, walking back to my bedroom.

"Uh... Dan?" Phil said.

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"About what was bothering you yesterday... you know you can talk to me, right?" he said.

I nodded, giving him a weak smile. "I know, Phil. Thanks."

He nodded, giving me a half smile back.

I walked back to my bedroom, shutting the door and laying on my bed. I didn't realized I was crying until I wiped my eye. _Why am I crying? I have no reason to be sad, right? _

_**Come on, Dan. Just admit it, this is tearing you apart...**_ my conscience said.

_Why would it be 'tearing me apart'? I have no reason to be sad! Phil's happy with his new girlfriend, so what?_

_**Dan, you know there's a deeper reason to why you're so upset...**_

_I'm not upset! _I yelled at my brain.

_**Dan... you need to think about this...**_

_Think about what? There's nothing to think about!_

_**Dan... you know something's wrong...**_

I groaned. _So what if Phil's happy with some girl? It's not going to change the fact that he's not going be with me anymore... _

_**Aha! So it is bothering you that Phil's with someone else!**_

I squeezed my eyes shut. _Okay fine! Yes! It is bothering me. But why does it even matter anymore? Nothing's gonna change and Phil won't be mine anymore... _

My eyes snapped open. _Wait, WHAT? _

_**Ha! Finally you admitted it! You want Phil to like you back!**_

I put my face in my hands. Why did I think that? _'Phil won't be _**_mine_**_ anymore'? _

_**Admit it, Dan. You have a crush on Phil...**_

I sighed. _Fine, I __**might**__ have a crush on Phil..._

I woke up the next day with a head ache. I'd been battling with my brain, as crazy as that sounds, about my feelings for Phil. I mean, he's my _best friend. _How do you just develop feelings for your best friend? Especially when you're _supposedly_ straight.

I looked at my phone for the time. _12:24 p.m._ "Urgh, I have to stop waking up at noon." I groaned. I got up, not bothering to get dressed. _Why should I? I have nothing to get dressed for anyways. _

I ended up moping around the apartment again today, watching Adventure Time here and there, making the occasional snack, and even taking a short nap.

Before I knew it, it was about 3:45 p.m., and Phil would be walking in the door any minute. _How am I ever going to look at Phil the same again? I just can't wrap my head around this..._

10 minutes pasted by, the 15, and soon it had been a half hour and Phil still wasn't home. I was starting to get worried.

_Maybe I should call his phone? _I dialed his cell phone number and a few rings later he picked up.

"_Hello?" _

"Phil? Where are you? Aren't you supposed to be home by now?" I asked.

"_Oh yeah, Beth stopped by and wanted to go shopping so I won't be home for another hour or so. I'm sorry." _he said sympathetically. I stayed quite for a few moments. "_Dan? Are you still there?"_

"Y-yeah. I'm still here. I was just getting worried, that's all." Isaid, feeling a little sad.

"_Oh you don't have to worry about me! I'll be fine, you silly goose." _he said. _"Is that Dan? Tell him I said hi!"_ Beth's voice came into the background. _"Beth said hi, Dan." _

I sighed. "Hi, Beth." I said.

"_Dan says hi back," _Phil said. "_I have to go, Dan, I'll talk to you when I get home, okay?" _

"O-okay. Bye Phil." I ended the call without letting Phil say good bye.

_Is this what it's going to be like now? Him not being home anymore while he's out buying his girlfriend things? _I thought, slumping into the couch.

_You just had to make me realize my feelings right when he had a girlfriend, didn't you Brain?_ I scolded my brain.

_**I guess it was a bad time, huh...**_


	7. A Night On The Town

_Chapter 7: A Night On The Town_

_**~Phil's POV~**_

I unlocked our apartment door and walked in. "Dan, I'm home!" I called, putting Dan's coat away. _I really should get a new coat..._ I thought. The apartment remained quiet. "Dan?" I called again.

I walked into the living room and saw Dan curled into a ball on the couch, sleeping. I walked over and looked at him. He was snoring quietly, and shivering a little. I shook my head and went to fetch a blanket. I returned and put the blanket over him, making sure he was completely covered.

Just then, something caught my eye. Dan's eyes were a little puffy and his face looked tear-streaked. _Was Dan crying? _I thought, a wave of guilt washing over me. _Is it because didn't come home on time? Did I upset him? _

I frowned. I felt really bad that I was out having fun while Dan was home crying, all alone.

Suddenly, Dan stirred and opened his eyes. He looked up at me. "Phil? You're finally home?" he said, sounding happy.

I nodded and smiled. "Yup. I'm all yours now." I said.

He paused, looking a little uncomfortable. _Did I say something wrong? _

"I'm glad you're home. What time is it?" he asked, sitting up and stretching.

"About 5:30. Do you want something to eat?" I offered.

He shook his head. "I'm not really that hungry right now..." he said.

We landed in silence for a moment. I knew I had to say something. "Dan, can I talk to you?"

Dan looked surprised. "Yeah, sure. Sit down."

I sat down next to him. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Dan, I know something is bothering you, and it makes me sad to see you like this." I said.

Dan sat there for a few seconds, not saying anything. "... What do you mean?" he asked, not looking me in the eye.

"Dan, you look like you've been crying." I said.

"I haven't been crying!" Dan said, getting defensive.

"I'm just saying, you look really upset. Why won't you talk to me about it?" I asked.

"Because Phil... I can't talk to you about it, okay? I just can't!" Dan said, getting up and storming to his room.

I wasn't giving up this easily. "Dan, I'm not letting this go until you tell me what's wrong!" I said, storming after him.

He slammed his door and locked it. I stood outside his door, waiting. "Go away, Phil. I'm not talking about it, because there's nothing to talk about!"

"Dan, something is seriously wrong and I want to help!"

"... You can't help me, Phil. This is my problem, and you can't fix it." he said quietly. He sounded like he was starting to cry again.

"Dan, please, let me help you! We're best friends, we're supposed to help each other!" More silence. I sighed. "Dan, I'm here if you want to talk. If you don't, that's fine. But I'll be here if you need me." I said quietly, walking away.

I spent the rest of the night alone, with Dan locked up in his room. _Something's not right here... He was so happy just the other day, then all of a sudden, he's completely depressed! _

It was getting late, so I decided just to get some sleep. I only had tomorrow to work, then I had the whole weekend off.

I stood at the counter the next morning, barely awake. I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night. It seemed like when I listened real closely, I could almost here Dan crying again_._

"_This is my problem, and you can't fix it." _

_But I wanted to fix it... I wanted to make him feel better. _I thought. I hadn't seen Dan cry in a very long time, and seeing him that upset brought back the sadness from his previous break downs.

"You okay, man?" Kenny asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Hmm? …Oh, yeah, just not feeling all that well today. Why?"

"Well, you look a little pale..." Kenny said quietly.

I just nodded, not bothering to stand straight up anymore. Instead I leaned on the counter, resting my chin on my hand. "I'm fine, really..."

"Phil, if you're not feeling well you can go home."

I considered it for a moment, but decided against it. "Nah, I've only been here a week, I don't want to go home sick on my first week. Besides, I have this weekend off, I can rest then." I said.

"If you're sure..." Kenny said slowly.

I nodded again. It was going to be a long day, and I needed to be on my best.

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I layed in my bed, exhausted. I hadn't really slept all night, but here I was, 10:00 a.m. and I was finally getting some sleep.

Just as I started to doze off, our house phone rang. My eyes snapped open, rage running through my veins. _Who is called this early in the day? Not to mention on our house phone... _I thought grumpily, getting out of bed and running to the phone. "Hello?" I answered, trying to sound atleast half way decent to the person who had interrupted my sleep.

"_Hi, is Phil there?" _a female voice asked.

_Oh great, it's the girl... _I rolled my eyes. "No, Phil is at work. Why?" I continued, making the irritation in my voice very clear.

"_Oh, uh... I was just wondering because he wasn't answering his cell phone, so I just thought that maybe-" _

"He probably didn't answer his phone because he's working." I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes.

"_Well, yeah, I guess that would make sense... um, if you could tell him I called, that would be great." _

_Is this girl stupid? _I thought, a bit too harshly. "Yes, I'll tell him you called. But if you don't mind me asking, _Beth,_" I emphasized her name. _"_Why _are_ you calling? Why don't you go see your boyfriend at work?" Sourness dripping from my voice.

"_... Are you upset with me Dan?" _she finally asked after a moment.

I sighed. "No, I'm not upset. You just woke me up, that's all..."

"_Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I should have realized you'd be sleeping at this hour, hehe..." _she said awkwardly.

"Yeah," I tried to lighten my tone a bit. "I'll tell him you called, okay?"

"_Thanks Dan. Have a good day._" she said sweetly, then the line went dead.

"_Have a good day."_ I mimicked her, hang up the phone.

I walked back to bed, laying back down. _Now can I get some sleep?_

I woke up to the ringing of the phone once again. I sighed, getting very irritated. _Can't she just accept that she has to wait until Phil gets home? _I walked back out to our home phone. I picked it up. "Beth, you're going to have to wait until Phil gets home." I said.

"_What?" _Phil's voice answered, sounding confused.

"Oh, sorry Phil, I thought you were Beth." I said, a little embarrassed.

"_Why? Did she call?" _he asked, sounding excited.

"Yeah, she called a couple hours ago asking if you were home." I said, still upset that she woke me up.

"_Why would she do that? She knew I had to work today..."_ Phil said, trailing off.

"Well, she called anyway... So what did you need?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"_Oh yeah, I just wanted to check in on how you were doing. Are you feeling better today?" _

I took a moment before answering. "... Yeah, I'm doing fine." I said quietly.

"_Good_," I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "_I was really worried about you last night..._"

"Yeah, I've just been going through a lot of stuff I guess..." I said, which wasn't entirely un-true.

"_Well I'll tell you what, as soon as I get home, you and I are going out for a fun night on the town, just you and me!"_

"Really?!" My voice let out more excitement than I'd meant to.

"_Yeah! Just be ready by 3:30 and we'll go out." _he said. Then another voice came into the background. "_Phil, your break is over in 2 minutes." _

"Well, I should probably let you go." I said, feeling way better than I did this morning.

"_Okay. Remember, be ready by 3:30. Bye, Dan." _

"Bye, Phil." I smiled, hanging up the phone.

I felt so happy that he was taking the time to go out with me tonight. I rushed to my room to find something to wear, since I was still in my pajamas.

_**It's kinda like your first date, huh Dan? **_my conscience said. ****

_I'm going to let that slide since I'm in such a good mood... _I thought back, still searching through my wardrobe for something to wear. I knew I didn't have to dress up or anything, but I wanted to look nice for Phil.

_**Of course you do...**_

3:30 finally rolled around and I was wearing my favorite skinny jeans and sweatshirt. I was sitting on our couch, too excited to sit still, so I finally got up and went to find a snack.

As I rummaged through our fridge, I heard the door open. "Dan, I'm home!" I heard Phil call.

"In the kitchen!" I called back. He walked into the kitchen, snow covering his black hair and his clothes. "Was it really snowing that bad?" I asked, getting nervous that he would cancel our plans.

"It was snowing when I got out of work, but it's stopped now. Are you ready to have fun?" he grinned.

"Definitely!" I said, grinning back.

"Great! Just let me call Bethany and we'll be on our way." he said, walking to our house phone.

My smile fell. _Of course he had to call her..._ I thought.

I heard Phil in the other room. "Hi Beth! What did you need? … Oh, um, I kind of have plans tonight..." I ginned. "But Beth, I really can't tonight... Okay, I'm sorry. You're not mad are you? … Hello?" There was silence for a few seconds, then I heard Phil hang up the phone. He walked into the kitchen, a frown on his face. "I think she's mad at me."

"What did she want?" I asked.

"She wanted me to come over to her party tonight that she was having, but I told her I was going out tonight, and she just hung up." he said, his shoulders slumped.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Phil, if you want to go to her party, I understand..." I said, my voice shaking a little.

"No, she's going to have to accept that I'm spending time with my best friend!" he said.

I grinned again. "Thanks, Phil."

"No problem," he smiled back. "Now, shall we?" he gestured to the door.

"We shall." I nodded.

We walked around London, for what seemed like hours. "What do you want to do now?" Phil asked.

"Hmm... Well, you definitely need a new coat. C'mon, I'll buy you one." I said, pulling him down the street to the clothing store.

"Dan, you don't have to do that! I can buy it..." he said as we walked in the sliding doors.

"Phil, I'm going to buy you a coat." I said plainly.

"Okay."

We walked all through the store until we got to the winter section. "Okay, go pick out a coat." I said.

"Any coat?"

"Any coat you'd like." I said. It was a good thing I had brought some money.

"I like this one!" he said, standing at a clothes rack a little ways away.

"Okay." Let's get it." I smiled, not bothering to look at the price, although I probably should've.

I bought the coat for Phil, thankfully for a low price. He gave me back my coat, which smelled good after being worn by him all week.

"Thanks, Dan." Phil said, putting on his new coat as we stepped outside. "What now?"

"How about we just walk around for a while?" I said. I was just happy to be spending time with him. All these thoughts about him had me going crazy.

"Okay, sounds good."

We walked and walked and walked until our legs finally got tired. "I have to sit down." I said, seeing a small park bench near a now frozen-over fountain.

"Dan, everything's covered in snow. Where are you going to sit?"

"Over there." I said, pointing to the bench. It wasn't covered in snow thanks to the little roof-thing it had over it. "Come sit with me." I said, pulling him over to the bench. We walked over to the bench, which, upon further inspection, was almost fully covered in a layer of ice. "Well... so much for that idea..." I said. I turned to walk away from the bench when I slipped on some ice. "Whoa!" I said, falling.

Phil grabbed my arm and pulled me back to my feet. As I stood up properly, I noticed my face was way too close to his, as I look at his eyes. He looked back into mine. We stood there, staring at each other for what felt like forever, but was only minutes. My eyes trailed down to his lips, where small puffs of white escaped his mouth as he breathed.

_I could kiss him if I only leaned forward an inch... _I thought.

"_Ahem,_" I cleared my throat, breaking the moment. "Uh, thanks for catching me." I said quietly, although I didn't want to break the closeness.

"Y-yeah. Of course." Phil said, equally as quiet.

"It's getting late. You wanna go home?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." he said.

We walked in silence as we headed back to our apartment. Why we didn't take a taxi, I don't know.

We finally got home, where Phil was almost begging me to open the door. When we were inside, we stripped our coats off. "It's f-freezing outside." Phil said, shivering.

I thought for a moment. "Why don't you go take a shower and warm up while I make us some hot chocolate."

"O-okay. Thanks." Phil said, walking off to the bathroom. We were both soaked to the bone and freezing, but he seemed more cold than I was.

I walked to the kitchen, trailing water from my wet socks along the floor, and got out the stuff to make some hot chocolate.


	8. The Second Date

_A/N: I have no idea how rent works in the UK, so I'm sorry for how vague I'm going to be through out this. I'm just a dumb American, okay? ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 8: The Second Date_

_**~Phil's POV~**_

I got my shower and went to get dressed. I put on some pajama bottoms and an over-sized hoodie and walked back out to the living room.

"The shower's all yours, Dan." I called towards the kitchen.

"Okay, I'm almost done."

I walked to the kitchen to see what Dan was up to, when my socked feet stepped in something wet. I looked down to see what I had stepped in, and sure enough there was a trail of water leading all the way into the kitchen. I cringed. _There's nothing more annoying than wet socks..._ I thought.

Dan came out with two mugs of hot chocolate. "Here ya go." he said, handing me one mug.

"Thanks." I smiled, taking the mug. We both sat down. I took a sip, the hot liquid almost burning my entire tongue. "That's hot!" I said, holding my mouth.

"Hence the name _hot _chocolate." Dan laughed.

I laughed too. "Yeah, I guess I walked right into that one." I blew at my cup, trying to cool it down.

"Are you warmer now?" Dan asked.

I nodded. "Although my socks are now wet from stepping in a mysterious water puddle." I gave him a pointed look.

He laughed. "Yeah, that's my fault, sorry."

"It's okay. You look pretty cold yourself."

He nodded. "I'll go take a shower when I'm done."

"You should go take one now. You don't want to get sick do you?" He looked indecisive. "Just go take a shower. You can always drink your hot chocolate after." I said.

"I guess you're right..." he said, getting up and walking off.

"Of course I am." I said quietly, sipping at my drink.

It was finally saturday evening and Beth would be here any minute. Dan was in his room, keeping to himself for whatever reason.

_Knock knock knock!_ I opened the door and saw Beth standing there, smiling. "Hey Phil! Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just a second." I said. I walked down the hallway to Dan's room. "Dan, I'm leaving now." I said through the door.

Silence.

I sighed. _I hope he's not getting depressed again..._

"Phil?" Beth called from the living room.

"Coming." I said, walking to the living room.

Beth must have notice how upset I was. "What's wrong?"

I pursed my lips, deciding if I should tell her or not. "Well... Dan's been getting a little depressed lately and I'm starting to get worried." I said.

She stared at me for a moment. "... You don't think it's because of me, do you?" she asked quietly.

"No! No, he said he's been going through a lot lately and I think stuff's just getting to him." I said, taking her hand in mine.

She nodded. "Well, shall we leave?"

"Sure." I smiled.

_**~Dan's POV~**_

"Dan, I'm leaving now." Phil said through my door.

I sighed. _Great, another night alone..._ I thought.

He didn't say anything else so I guessed he'd left. I got up and opened my door just a crack to see if he was still there. He wasn't of course, but I could hear him and Beth taking from the living room.

"... Dan's been getting a little depressed lately..." I heard Phil say in a hushed tone.

My mouth dropped open slightly. _He has no right to tell her what's going on! _

"... You don't think it's because of me, do you?" Beth said.

_Yes, yes it is because of you... _I thought, annoyed by her taking interest in me.

"No! No he said he's been going through a lot lately..."

I couldn't believe Phil was sharing my business with some girl he'd only known for less than a week. I shut my door, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation.

_He can go have fun, I don't care..._

_**Dan, you need to talk to him about this...**_

_About what? There's nothing to talk about... _

_**Dan, you know damn well what I'm talking about...**_

I layed down on my bed and closed my eyes, just wanting to escape life for the night.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

Beth laughed. "You're so funny."

"Thanks, I try." I laughed too.

"Oh look, our food is coming!" Beth said. A few seconds later, a man set down our food in front of us.

"Thanks." I said.

He nodded once and walked off. We began eating and talking.

"Um, Phil, can I ask you something?" Beth asked nervously.

"Sure, go ahead." I said, wiping my mouth with my napkin.

"And, you're free to say no if you want to..."

"Just ask me." I laughed.

"Okay, um, I know we've only been together for a few days, but I need some help... uh, financially." she said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Oh? How much help do you need?" I asked.

"I'm a little behind on my rent, and I was wondering if I could maybe borrow some money? I'll pay you back."

I nodded. "Sure, how much do you need?"

"Just a little..."

I laughed again. "That doesn't tell me how much."

"Well..."

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I heard the door open and close, waking me up. I groaned and looked at my phone for the time. _11:36 p.m.. _I rubbed my eyes to make sure I had read it right, and I did.

_Is Phil just getting home? _I thought, dragging myself out of bed to see why he was back so late.

I opened my door and walked out to the living room. "Phil?"

He looked up, surprised to see me. "Dan? What are you doing up so late?"

"I should ask you the same. Why are you _back_ so late?"

He laughed. "What, are you my mother now? Beth and I just lost track of time, that's all."

"Oh..." I said. "So how did your date go?" I asked, trying to act mildly interested.

"Great! We went out to eat and talked." He smiled.

"What did you talk about?" I asked, ready to go back to bed.

"We just talked about how we were doing, then I told her some really corny jokes, and then..." he paused.

"Then what?" I asked, yawning.

"... and then we talked about her life and she asked me if she could borrow some money..." he said quietly. I almost didn't hear him.

"Money? How much?"

"Not very much! Just enough for her to get through her rent this month..." he said, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"For her rent?! Phil, you seem to be forgetting that _we_ have to pay rent too!"

"I know! But she said this would only be a one time thing, and she seems to be struggling a bit. What was I supposed to do, let her get evicted?"

"Can't she get a job?" I asked.

"She has a job..."

"Then why can't she pay her own damn rent?" I continued, getting annoyed.

"Why do you care so much?" he snapped.

I didn't say anything for a few seconds. "... I'm going back to bed." I walked back to my bedroom.

"Wait, Dan. I'm sorr-"

"It's fine, Phil. Good night." I said, shutting my door and locking it.

_So now she's getting money from him..._ I thought, still irritated.

I layed back down on my bed and tried to get back to sleep.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

_Why did he get so upset? _I thought, going to sit on our couch. _So I loaned her some money, big deal! I do feel bad though... _

I rubbed my eyes, getting incredibly tired. _It's not like I have to get up in the morning or anything, but maybe I should go to bed... _

I got up and went to my bedroom. I slowly changed into my pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt and got under my blanket.

_I hope Dan's in a better mood tomorrow... I don't want him to be mad at me forever._


	9. The Theory

_A/N: Again, I'm sorry for how straight forward my writing is. I try to span out situations to make them more detailed, but it doesn't always work. I suck at writing, okay? ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 9: The Theory_

"Phil, I'm going out for a bit!" Dan called from outside my door, waking me up.

"What...?" I asked, half asleep.

"I'm going out to get some food. Do you want to come with?" he asked, peeking inside my door.

"Um, it's okay. You can go..." I said, still dazed.

"Oh..." his faced dropped a little. "Okay, I'll go by myself. You can go back to sleep." he said, closing my door again. A few minutes later I heard our front door open and close.

The apartment was left quiet, so quiet that I could hear my own breathing. I layed there for about 5 minutes, trying to get back to sleep. As I was starting to drift back to sleep, a realization hit me like a brick. _He wanted me to go with him to spend time with him!_

I mentally facepalmed myself and got out of bed. _I can't believe I turned him down when he wanted to spend time together! How stupid can I get... _I thought, walking out to our kitchen to make myself some tea.

I was so disappointed with myself that I finally called Dan. "_Hello?" _he answered.

"Hey Dan!"

"_Hey Phil! Sounds like you're awake now." _

"Yeah, I couldn't get back to sleep..." I said awkwardly. "But I was just calling because I felt bad for not coming with you."

"_It's okay, you were still asleep, I shouldn't have woken you up..." _

"I still feel bad..." I said.

"_Don't feel bad, Phil. Look, I'll get you something and bring it home and we can hang out there, okay?" _

"You don't have to do th-"

"_Phil, don't question me. I'm buying you something, and you'll have to accept that. See you at home." _Then the line went dead.

_Why does he keep buying me stuff?_ I thought. It wasn't like I didn't appreciate it, but I felt bad that he was buying me all this stuff and all I could do was accept the gifts and not give him anything in return...

I got my mug of tea and went to sit on our couch to wait for Dan to get home. I turned on the tv to see what shows there would be on Sunday mornings.

"Phil, I'm home! And I have presents!" Dan said.

I looked towards the door, where Dan was carrying two shopping bags. "What did you get? _Christmas_ presents? A little early, don't ya think?" I said, getting off the couch and walking over to take one of the bags.

"No, not _Christmas _presents, I got you a little something while I was out, that's all." he smiled, handing me one bag. "This one is your's."

I took the bag and looked inside. Inside the bag was a few candy bars, a bag of doritos, a bottle of soda, and other junk food type things. "You got me food?" I asked, giving him a crooked smile. It was rather amusing that these were Dan's 'presents'.

"You can never have to much food." he said, unwrapping a candy bar for himself.

"Thank you." I said. It was really sweet of him, in a weird way.

"No problem." he said through a mouth full of chocolate.

I laughed. "Dan, don't talk with food in your mouth!"

"Sorry." he said, still stuffing chocolate in his mouth.

"What would you like to do today? Today can be another '_Dan-and-Phil_' day." I opened up the bag of doritos.

He looked at me for a moment, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah! We never spend time together anymore." I said, offering a dorito to Dan.

He shook his head. "Yeah, tell me about it." he said quietly.

I looked at him. _So he notices it too..._ I thought, feeling bad. "Dan?"

"Hmm?"

"... You know you're still my best friend, right?" I said quietly.

He nodded, giving me a smile. "Yeah, I know Phil. You're my best friend too."

I almost felt the need to give him a hug, but I resisted. _He'd probably get creeped out... _I thought. "So..." I said, finally breaking the silence. "What did you want to do? It's all up to you."

He pursed his lips. "Hmm... I'm up for just staying here and hanging out, if that's okay. It's getting really cold outside."

"Okay, sounds good! You're the activity director today, so what do we do first?"

_**~Dan's POV~**_

We spent the day watching movies, stuffing our faces with junk food, playing video games, and just talking. It felt like it was back to normal, back when we were both single.

I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked, pausing our game of crash bandicoot.

"Nothing... just thinking about how this feels normal, if that makes sense."

"What do you mean?" he asked, sipping some more soda from his glass.

"Just... never mind, it's stupid." I said, getting ready for him to un-pause the game.

"No really, tell me!" Phil persisted.

"It just feels like it used too, you know? Like before Beth came into the picture." I said quietly, not wanting to offend him.

We sat in silence for a moment. "Don't you like Beth?" he asked after a moment.

"Well, yeah, she's a good girl for you. I'm just saying it's like it was before- you know what, let's just forget I even mentioned it. Back to the game!" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Okay," he quickly dropped the subject, much to my relief. "I'll be right back, I have to use the bathroom. No cheating while I'm gone!" he warned and went off towards the bathroom.

I sat back on the couch and relaxed. It had been a pretty good day, which I was thankful for.

_Ring ring ring! _Our house rang, startling me. I got off the couch and went to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"_Phil? It's Bethany." _Beth's voice came onto the line.

_Phil? _"Actually, it's Da-" I started, but she cut in.

"_Phil, I was just wondering if maybe I could borrow some more money?" _she asked slowly.

My eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"_Um, just some expenses, ya' know. Please? It's just a little more money, I promise!"_

"I'll... have to get back to you on that." I said, hanging up the phone with out letting her answer.

I stood there for a few minutes, letting my thoughts sink in. _More money? … Is that... all she wants?_

Phil walked back out from the hallway and turned to me. "What's wrong?" he asked, clearly noticing my shocked look.

I looked at him. "Phil, I think we need to talk."


	10. The Fight

_Chapter 10: The Fight_

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Phil said angrily.

"Phil, can't you see it?" I said, trying to calm him down.

"You think my girlfriend is _using_ me!" he turned to me, an angry look on his face. "How d_are_ you, Dan!"

"Phil, she just wants more and more money, what does that tell you?" I said, getting frustrated.

"It tells me that she trusts me enough to ask for help!"

"Or she just wants you to buy her stuff..." I said under my breath.

Phil narrowed his eyes at me, giving me a look that I thought Phil would never make. "You listen to me, Dan, Beth is a nice girl, and I'm not going to let you insult her like this!"

"Phil-"

"No, Dan! Just stop! I don't want to hear any more." he said going to his room and slamming the door.

I stood there, my hands clenched in fists at my sides. _Why can't he see that she's just using him? Why must he always see the good in people? _I looked down at the floor, tears welling in my eyes. _I didn't want him to get so mad, but I didn't want to see him hurt either. I loved him, more than a friend probably should._

I stomped to my own room, not bothering to shut off the paused video game in the living room. I shut my door and layed on my bed, planting my face in a pillow.

I cried. What else could I do? My best friend was mad at me and his supposed girlfriend is slowly absorbing his money.

I looked at my phone, checking to see if it was too early to go to sleep. _9:56 p.m. _I got under my covers, not bothering to change into any pajamas.

_Phil will go off to work in the morning and leave me here alone again... back to the way things were. _I thought, closing my eyes.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

"He still had no right..." I grumbled to myself the next day at work. I was silently arguing with myself about my fight with Dan last night. "He had no right to call her a user..."

_But what if she really is using me? Dan's my best friend, he wouldn't lie to me about something like that! _

"But Beth isn't a user, she's... she's..." I looked up from my place at the counter where a line of people were watching me talk to myself. They stared at me for a few seconds, probably trying to decide if I was crazy of not. "Uh, sorry about that... what can I get you?" I asked the first person. _As if my day wasn't bad enough... _

By time my lunch break rolled around I was worn out. I slumped down in one of the comfortable chairs and sipped at some coffee. I rubbed my face, trying to get it to warm up. _The heat must be turned down or something._

"Phil?" I heard a voice say from the other side of the room. I looked up and saw Beth looking around for me.

"Over here." I called.

She looked in my direction and smiled. "Hey! I was starting to think you weren't here." she said as she skipped over and sat down next to me. The difference in energy between us was almost scary. She was full of life and I was sitting here like a rock.

"Yeah, I'm here." I said, taking another sip of my drink.

"Are you okay? You look a little down-in-the-dumps." she said, putting her hand on mine.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine, it's just... er... I had a bit of a fight with Dan last night." I said.

"About what?"

I sighed, debating what I should tell her. "Well, it's a long story."

"I have time."

"... Well, it was kinda about you." I said, quietly. She didn't answer for a few minutes and I looked over to see why.

She looked hurt, like she was going to cry. "W-what? What about me? Did I do something to offend you? Or Dan?"

"Dan was just saying some crazy stuff last night, and it made me mad, that's all." I said, trying to calm her down.

"What did he say?"

I kept quiet for a moment before answering. "Dan thinks you're using me for my money, but I told him that it wasn't true." I said. I looked at her to see her reaction. She had a blank look on her face, which I couldn't read. "Beth? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I just... can't believe Dan would think that. Why would he think that?"

"When you called last night, he was the one who answered and he thought since you asked for some more money, that it was all you wanted." I said, getting angry at the flash back.

"Really? You and Dan sound a lot alike on the phone then." She said.

"Doesn't this upset you?" I asked, shocked that she wasn't getting mad.

"Well, it doesn't make me _angry_, but it does hurt that he would think that." she said.

I nodded. I looked over at Beth, who was starting to look nervous. "What's wrong?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you were still going to loan me some money?" she said, not looking me in the eye.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I was wondering if you could give me just a _little _more money last night, but since I didn't get an answer, I thought I'd ask now."

"What do you need it for?"

"Just, you know... stuff."

"What _stuff_?" I asked.

"Well, I saw these _really_ nice pair of boots in the store the other day, and I didn't quite have enough for them." she said.

"You want money for _boots_?" I asked.

"Please Phil!" she begged.

I sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll take you shopping after I get off from work. Stop back at 3:30 and we'll go."

"Thank you!" she said, jumping out of her chair. She kissed me on the cheek and went out the door.

I shook my head. _Girls will be girls, I guess. _

_**~Dan's POV~**_

Our house phone rang, startling me. I got up from the couch, making sure to pause the movie I was watching, and went to answer it. "Hello?"

"_Hey Dan." _Phil's voice said.

"Phil?" I asked, shocked that he would call me after our spat last night.

"_Yeah. I just wanted to say sorry for yelling at you last night." _He sounded sad.

"It's okay. I should probably be the one saying sorry, though." I said, feeling bad.

"_It's okay Dan, we can just put it behind us. I also wanted to let you know that I won't be home right after work." _

"Why?"

"_Beth wants me to buy her these boots she saw and I'm going to take her shopping. Is that okay?" _

My anger started to boil again. "Did she ask you to buy her the boots?"

"_Yeah, why?" _

"Phil, don't you think that _she _can buy the boots _herself_?"

"_Dan, don't start this again." _Phil said in a stern tone.

I sighed. "Fine, buy her some boots. I'll be here when you get home, whenever that will be."

"_I promise to be home as soon as I can. I have to go, Beth's waiting outside for me. Bye." _Then the line went dead.

I hung up the phone, narrowing my eyes. _She doesn't need those damn boots..._

I sighed and went to lay on the couch. _Why is Phil so blind? He thinks he's being nice, but he's just being gullible. But that's Phil. He doesn't take in to account that some people are like that. _

I curled up on the couch and covered myself with a blanket. It was cold in the apartment, but I was too lazy to get back up to fix the heat. I layed there, shivering and thinking. _How do I make him realize it? I could treat him so much better... but he would never see that. He's not gay. I don't even know if I'm gay. But these aren't normal feelings for a straight guy to have. I love Phil, more than I probably should. _

_**~Phil's POV~**_

"Thanks again, Phil." Beth said, as I got out of the taxi.

"No problem. Anything for you." I smiled at her, closing the door. The taxi drove away and I walked to our apartment, getting my key ready. I unlocked the door and walked in, instantly feeling a cold breeze sweep through the room. "Dan?" I called. _Why is it so cold in here? _

I walked into the living room and saw Dan curled up on the couch once again. He was asleep but he was also shivering violently. I walked over and shook his shoulder. His eyes opened slowly and looked up at me. " Hey. When did you get back?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"About 2 minutes ago. How long have you been sleeping? It's freezing in here!" I said, going to turn the heat up.

"Since about the time you called. How was your date?" he asked, sitting up and stretching.

"It was fine. I took her shopping and we grabbed a bite to eat. Have you eaten yet?"

He shook his head. "No, I kinda dozed off for a bit. I didn't realize I had slept for so long. What time is it?"

"About 6:00." I said. "You don't look so good." I said, observing how pale he looked.

"It's probably just from the cold." he gave me a shrug.

"Are you okay? You seem a little sad." I said.

"I'm just... lonely, I guess. You're never home anymore." he said quietly.

I felt bad. What has our friendship come to? Fighting with him, then leaving him alone all the time? "I'm sorry, Dan. I guess that's my fault. Do you want me to fix you dinner?" I asked. He shrugged again. "I'll make you something to eat." I smiled, and went to make him something.

"Phil?" he said.

I turned around. "What?"

"... You're not mad at me, are you?"

I smiled. "Of course not."

"Okay." he smiled back.


	11. The Truth Comes Out

_Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out_

_**~Dan's POV~**_

_Ring ring ring! _The phone rang, waking me up. I groaned, looking at the time. "Who's calling at this time of day?" I thought, getting out of bed and jogged to the phone. "Hello?" I answered, trying to sound atleast half awake.

"_Hello Dan." _A female voice came on the line.

"Beth? Phil's not h-"

"_I know. I'm calling to talk to you." _she said simply.

"Oh?" I said, not really wanting to talk to her. I almost thought about making an excuse to go, but I refrained.

"_Yes. Dan, it has come to my attention that you think I'm using Phil." _

"Well, it's just... uh... you've been asking for a lot of money, t-that's all..." my social awkwardness kicked in.

"_I know. Listen, Daniel," _she said, using my full name. "_I want you to listen very carefully. You will not say a peep more to Phil about this subject, understand?" _

"_Are_ you using Phil?" I asked quietly.

"_I suggest minding your own business Dan. What goes on between Phil and I is not something that includes you. Besides, Phil won't believe you even if you tell him." _she said smugly.

My eyes narrowed. "You bitch! How dare you take advantage of him!"

"_Watch your language, Dan. You wouldn't want to talk to a lady like that, would you?" _she giggled and hung up the phone.

I slammed the phone down on the receiver, rage pouring through me. I picked up the phone again to call Phil, but stopped. _She's right... he won't believe me if I tell him. Then what should I do? _I put the phone back once again and thought. _I have to plan this out very carefully..._

"Dan, I'm home!" I heard Phil call. I jumped off my bed and went to greet him.

"Hey! How was work?" I asked.

"Great! We were actually pretty quiet today. How's your day been?" he said, hanging up his coat.

"Oh you know, the usual." I shrugged. _Everything is going well so far._

"It's got to be pretty boring here all day. What do you do to keep busy?"

"Sleep, internet, food." I said non-chalantly.

Phil laughed. "Sounds more fun than my day."

I laughed too."So Phil... Do you think we can have a talk? You know, friend to friend?" I asked. _He's in a good mood, now it's time to talk._

"Sure. What's up?" Phil asked, going to sit on the couch, patting the cushion next to him.

I sat down next to him. "Okay, I want to talk to you, but you have to promise to let me finish before you say anything, okay?" I said slowly.

"Okay, I promise." he smiled. I knew that wouldn't last long, though.

"Okay, here goes," I took a deep breath. "I got a call from Beth this morning-"

"What did she want?" Phil asked.

"Phil, you promised not to say anything," I gave him a look.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, I got a call from Beth, and she had a few choice words to say to me. Now what I'm about to tell you will probably upset you, but it's for your own good..." I paused. "Beth admitted that she was taking advantage of you. And I just thought you should know." I said quickly.

He stared at me, an expression I couldn't read. After a few moments, he finally spoke. "Dan, I thought we were over this..."

"I just thought you should kn-"

"Dan, enough!" Phil snapped. "I'm sorry that you feel lonely, but you can't keep making up lies about her like this!"

"But Phil, I'm not lying!"

"Yes you are! Beth wouldn't do something like that, and you know it. Stop being selfish! You just have to accept that she's in my life now." he said, getting up from the couch.

"But Phil-" I said, trying to stop him.

"Please, Dan. Stop." he said, walking out of the room.

I slumped into the couch. _Well that back fired. What now? _

"Phil, there's dinner if you want it." I called towards his bedroom. He didn't respond, which was what I expected.

I sat down at the computer with my bowl of soup and opened twitter. I scrolled through my timeline, eating a spoonful of soup every now and then. I heard a door open and close and turned to see Phil slowly walking to the kitchen. "Thanks." he said quietly.

"Yup." I nodded. I turned back to the computer and continued.

"Dan?" Phil said from the kitchen.

I got up and walked to the kitchen. "Yeah?" I said as I peaked through the door way.

Phil looked at me. "I think we need to have a serious talk."

I nodded. "Okay."

"I'll be out in a minute." he said, turning back to the pot of soup.

I walked back out to the living room and sat on the couch. Phil came out a few seconds later, carefully holding his bowl. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked, although I already knew what was coming.

"I just want to talk to you about Beth." he said calmly, giving me a little smile. _Atleast he's not mad anymore... _He sat down and blew on his soup. "I just want to know what's going on with you, that's all. What's bothering you Dan?"

I looked down at my lap. I didn't want to start another fight, but I also didn't want to let the subject go. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"Hurt? Why would I get hurt?"

"I don't know... It's just, you're my friend, I care about you." I said, looking up at him. _That might be a little more true than he thinks..._

"I know, and I care about you too Dan-"

"But not in the same way..." I said quietly. Then I realized what I had said. I looked at Phil, who was giving me a confused look.

"Huh?"

"I... um... never mind, continue with what you were saying." I said, panicking.

"Oh, okay... Anyway, I was just saying that I care about you too, and I know you must be feeling hurt, but I really don't want our friendship to be like this. I miss when we could talk about anything, and spend time with each other all day, but sometimes it just doesn't always work out like that. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think so." I said, getting up and going back to the computer.

"Are you okay, Dan?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm glad we talked things out." I gave him a weak smile and sat back down at the desk.

I woke up about noon time the next day. I got out of bed, stumbling to the kitchen to make me some lunch.

I made a sandwich and went to sit down when the phone rang. I sighed, setting my sandwich down and answering the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hey Dan!" _Phil said excitedly.

"Hey Phil," I smiled. "Are you going to call me everyday now?"

"_Well, I have to make sure you didn't burn the apartment down."_

"I didn't burn anything down, I promise." I laughed.

"_That's good." _Phil laughed too. "_Anyway I called with some good news!" _

"Good news?"

"_Yeah! Beth stopped by today, and we got talking, and we decided that she would come over for dinner tonight so you guys can get to know each other!" _

I didn't say anything for a while, letting it all sink in. "Was this Beth's idea?" I asked.

"_Yeah, how'd you know?" _

"Lucky guess." I said, irritated.

"_Well, be dressed by time I get home and you can help me make the food if you want. It'll be some bonding time for you and I." _


	12. The Dinner

_A/N: I know Dan isn't this emotional in real life, but he's going to be for the sake of the fanfic. ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 12: The Dinner_

_Knock knock knock! _

"Ooh, that'll be Beth!" Phil said, running to the door. I stood at the stove, still stirring the tomato sauce. We were having spaghetti tonight, which was good because I liked spaghetti. _Yay for the little things..._

A few minutes later, Beth and Phil walked into the kitchen, hand in hand. "Everything smells so good!" she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Dan, say hi to Beth!" Phil urged.

I turned around, putting a smile on my face. "Hello Beth."

"Hello, Dan." We could feel the tension between us, but Phil was completely oblivious.

"This is going to be so much fun! You can go make yourself at home in the living room while we finish cooking, Beth." Phil said, walking back to his side of the stove, where the noodles were boiling. Beth walked out of the kitchen, taking off her coat. "Aren't you excited?" Phil said.

Hearing how happy Phil was almost made me feel bad for hating her, but not entirely. "Yeah, can't wait!" I said.

We finished cooking and brought the food out to the table, where Beth was already sitting. "You could have sat on the couch if you wanted." Phil said, sitting down next to her.

"It's okay, I was so excited to eat!" she said. "What about you Dan?" she looked at me. "Aren't you excited?" she said, giving me a smile that I knew wasn't sincere.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but not enough for Phil to notice. I sat down on the other side of Phil, not wanting to even be near her.

We all started eating, while Beth and Phil talked and laughed. I made small comments here and there when they talked to me.

"I don't think I can eat anymore." Phil said once everyone was done eating.

"That was so good! I'm glad I have a boyfriend who can cook." Beth practically purred.

I sighed.

"Well, I'd better get these dishes cleaned up," Phil said, gathering all of our plates. "In the mean time, you two can talk and get to know each other!"

"Really Phil, you don't have to-" I started, trying to make an excuse to not be left alone with this girl.

"No, I think it's a good idea! I've been wanting to talk to Dan." Beth said.

"Great! I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need anything." Phil said, taking the plates out to the kitchen.

I looked at Beth, who looked back at me. I narrowed my eyes at her, this time making it obvious. "Oh, don't give me that look, Dan. We're supposed to be getting along, remember?" Beth said, giving me a fake smile. She reminded me of the stereotypical 'popular girls' you'd find in high school.

"You know that's not going to happen."

She pursed her lips. "I think we need to have a little chat."

"Okay then. Start talking." I leaned back and crossed my arms, giving her an expectant look.

"You and I both know what's going on, but Phil doesn't. And you telling him this is only upsetting him, right?"

I nodded reluctantly.

"So why upset him? Why not just let him be happy. I get things, and he gets a happy relationship... But then there's you." she paused and leaned forward, lowering her voice. "You seem to think that you're helping, but you're not. Do you really want to keep going through this over and over again?"

"I'm not going to let you do this to him." I said, getting mad.

"And just what are you going to do about it, hmm?" she tilted her head to the side.

I didn't say anything. What _could_ I do?

"That's right. You can't do _anything. _But enough about this topic, shall we move onto something else?"

"Like what?"

"Like about you and Phil." My eyes widened a little. "That's right. Don't think I don't know what's going on here, Dan. I see the way you look at him. Do you really think it's not obvious? He's _straight, _Dan, can't you see that?"

I clenched my teeth as tears started to form in my eyes. "... Is it really that obvious?" was all I could get out.

"More than you'd believe. I'm surprised Phil hasn't noticed your little cutesy stares you give him. Face it, Dan. He's _mine, _and he's going to _stay _mine." she stopped smiling and gave me a disgusted look. "Do you really think you have a chance with him?"

By now the tears were streaming down my face. "I can't help the way I feel about him." I said quietly, almost in a whisper.

"I think it's time to let go and accept the facts." she said, feigning sympathy.

Just then, Phil walked in. "How're things going in here?" he asked.

I got up from my chair and went to my room. _She's right. I have to let go. _

_**~Phil's POV~**_

"What happened?" I asked when I heard Dan slam his door.

"I'm not sure... we were just having a nice talk and he just started crying! I felt so bad." Beth said, frowning.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it had nothing to do with you. Like I said before, he's been going through some stuff." I said, glancing towards his room. "Maybe I should go see if he's alright..."

"Or maybe we should just give him some space. He looked pretty upset."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." I frowned.

Beth glanced at her wrist watch. "Oh boy, it's getting late. I'd better head home." she said, getting up and pushing in her chair. "Thanks so much for the great dinner." she walked over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I'll come visit you at work tomorrow, okay?"

I smiled. "Sounds good. Good night."

She grabbed her purse and coat and walked out the door.

I finished wiping off the table and clearing dishes, trying to keep busy. I finally broke down and walked to Dan's room. I knocked on the door. "Dan, are you alright?" I asked. He didn't respond, but as I listened closer I could hear him crying. "Dan, please talk to me. I don't like seeing you upset!"

"Why don't you talk to Beth since you like her so much!" he said, still crying.

"What? Dan, you're not making any sense."

He didn't say anything else, so I just walked away. _This is getting to be unhealthy now. He's so emotional lately and I don't even know why! _

I cleaned up the kitchen and went to get ready for bed.


	13. The Run Away

_A/N: This was supposed to be the most dramatic chapter, or climax if you will, but seeing as I was in a rush to finish it, it got a bit sloppy. I'm sorry! ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 13: The Run Away_

The next day of work dragged by. The usual people came in, yelled at me for not being fast enough, then left with their drinks. None of it really bothered me, though, I was still worried about Dan. When I got up this morning, I could have sworn I heard him still crying. _It could have been my imagination, though... _

"Are you okay? You seem a little slow today." Kenny said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm just... I'm fine, really. I'll try to be faster." I reassured him.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, man."

"Okay." I nodded.

It was only 11:00, and my lunch break would be in an hour. _You can last that long, Phil. Just another hour..._

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I barely got any sleep last night. Beth's words kept swirling through my mind.

"_Do you really want to keep going through this over and over again?"_

"_You can't do _anything_."_

"_He's straight, Dan, can't you see that?"_

"_He's mine, and he's going to stay mine."_

"_I think it's time to let go and accept the facts."_

_Accept the facts..._

_**Accept the facts...**_

"She's right..." I whispered to myself. "I just have to forget."

I went to get a shower, wanting to clean away the tears and sweat and disgust.

I ended up staying in the shower for close to an hour, then got out when I started to get wrinkly. I dried off, throwing some jeans and a t-shirt on, even though it was close to freezing outside.

I didn't feel like doing anything, to be honest. I felt so depressed and alone. _Damn her... _I thought. _Damn her for making me feel like this. I was just fine until she showed up!_

I opened my laptop to scroll through tumblr, hoping it would make me feel better. I scrolled past gifs of weird stuff, past long tumblr rants, and all the other stuff you'd imagine on tumblr.

Then I got an idea. I searched up the Phan tag, to see what was being posted. _Maybe seeing things like they used to be will make me feel better..._ Once the page loaded, I looked at the gifs of me and Phil, the cute fan art, and the _not-so-kid-friendly _fan artpeople had drawn of us. Then I came upon a gif someone had made of us from Phil is not on fire 1.

It showed Phil tackling me and us saying goodbye with our hand-hearts. It made me smile.

_I remember making that video with him. Sitting in his bedroom, being silly and laughing at the stupidest stuff. I miss that..._ I frowned.

Then a realization hit me. _It's never, ever going to be like that again..._

That thought made my eyes widen with shock. It was true, it's never going to be the same.

My lip quivered, tears forming in my eyes again. _Why must I cry about everything? Come on, Dan, be a man for once. _I thought, wiping away the tears, but more replaced them quickly.

_I can't stand this anymore... _I thought, getting up.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

The seconds ticked by slowly. _5, 4, 3, 2, 1... _"Yes, break time!" I said, taking off my apron. "I could use some food."

I poured myself a cup of coffee as usual and went to sit at one of the tables.

"Hey, Phil, I'm going out to get something to eat. Want anything?" Kenny asked, coming over to my table.

"Um, sure, hold on." I said, getting out my wallet. I opened it, but it was empty. _Oh yeah, I spent the last of my money on Beth's boots..._ I thought. "Um, I think I'll have to pass. Thanks though."

"Okay." Kenny shrugged, walking away.

I sighed. _I'm still hungry... _

The door on the other side of the room opened and Beth walked in. I smiled. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I said I was going to come visit you, silly." she laughed. She set a bag on the table in front of me and sat down.

"What's this?"

"I brought you lunch." she smiled.

"You're the best!" I said, opening the bag and taking out a neatly made sandwich.

"I know." she laughed.

I took a bite of the sandwich. "Mm, this is really good." I said.

"Thanks." she smiled. "So I came by to see how you were doing." she said.

I nodded, taking another bite. "It's been pretty normal. The usual, I mean. How's your day been?"

"Pretty good." she smiled.

We sat in silence as I finished my sandwich. When I was done I crumpled up the bag and threw it away.

"Did you have a good time last night?" I asked when I got back.

"Yeah! It was wonderful."

"Oh, good," I sighed in relief. "I was worried that maybe you didn't even like spaghetti."

She laughed. "You worry too much."

"I know."

"So Phil, I was wondering..." she asked, biting her lip.

"Wondering what?"

"Um, if maybe you could loan me some cash..."

I gave her a confused look. "Money? Why do you need more?"

"Just for stuff, you know."

"Just tell me. Is it for rent again? Or for food?"

"No... not really."

"Then what is it for?" I asked, getting even more confused.

"Um... remember when I said I wanted a new pair of shoes?"

"Yeah..." I said slowly.

"Well, they have these _really _nice pair of shoes that I want and I wanted to know if maybe you could buy them for me? Please honey." she said, taking my hand in hers.

I didn't say anything for a while. _She wants me to buy her shoes? But I just bought her some boots! _I thought. After a few seconds of debating, it dawned on me. "Oh my god..." I said quietly.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Dan's right." I said, looking at her.

"What do you mean? Phil, you're being silly." she said, giggling.

"All you want is for me to buy you things... Is that all you love me for?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"No, of course not! Don't be silly, hehehe." she giggled again, but this time sounding more nervous.

"Beth, just be honest with me. Do you really love me? Or my money?"

She didn't say anything. Instead, she looked down at the floor.

"Beth, answer me."

She still sat there. We both just sat there for a couple minutes, not saying anything.

"I don't think this is going to work out Beth..." I said quietly, looking away.

She looked up at me, her mouth dropping open a little. "W-what?"

"I can't be with someone who only loves me when I buy her things."

"B-but, Phil..." she said, her voice shaking.

"I think you should leave now." I said, getting up and going back to the counter.

A few seconds later I heard the door open then close.

_How could I not see it before? Am I really that stupid? Dan was right all along. Wait... Dan! _I pulled out my phone and dialed the house phone.

_**~Dan's POV~**_

"There, that should last me a few days..." I sniffed.

I slung my packed bag over my shoulder and headed towards our door.

_Ring ring ring! _The house phone rang. I ignored it. "I don't even want to talk to anyone right now."

I had finally come to terms with what Beth had said, and it hurt. Bad. I packed my bag, ready to go away to somewhere where I didn't have to deal with the pain of my feelings and the stress of Phil's situation.

I didn't know exactly where to go, but I'd find out when I got there.

I walked towards the door as the answering machine picked up. I put the note I'd written Phil on the table next to the door and went on my way.

_**~Phil's POV~**_

"Hmm, no answer. I hope he's okay..." I said quietly, ending the call. I thought about leaving a message for him, but Dan hardly ever checks the machine anyway.

_I'll talk to him when I get home... _

I rushed home as soon as the clock struck 3:00. I got in a taxi and tried calling our house again. _No answer... _

When I got to our apartment, I unlocked the door and went inside. "Dan! Dan I have to talk to you!" I shouted through out the apartment. No response. "Dan?" I called again.

I took off my boots and coat and went to check his room. _Maybe he's still sleeping..._

I opened his door and looked inside. There were clothes thrown everywhere and his bed was neatly made, but no Dan. I closed his door again. "Dan, I need to talk to you!" I called again, getting worried.

I checked every room and didn't find him anywhere. "Oh god, where is he?"

I went to put on my coat to go look for him around town when I notice a small slip of paper folded in half with _Phil _written on it. I picked it up and unfolded it.

_Phil, if you're reading this then you've probably noticed that I'm not home. I've left for a while, but I don't know when I'll be back. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm sorry for upsetting you these past couple weeks. But, you have to know that I was telling the truth about her. Phil, she's using you, and I don't like to see you hurt. Beth has made me see the light of things and so I figured that this is best. I just want to tell you one thing Phil. I love you. I know you probably think, 'oh he's just saying it as a friend', but I mean it more than a friend. Phil, I really do love you, and seeing you with her is what's made me so depressed. I don't want you to feel like you're to blame. It's not your fault that she's like that, and you're just a good person who sees the good in people. So please don't feel like any of this is your fault. I just want to say good bye Phil. You'll always be my best friend, no matter how bad things get. -Dan_

Tears started forming as I finished reading. _He's had feelings for me? He ran away? _So many questions ran through my head as I folded the paper back up and pulled out my phone, dialing Dan's cell phone number.

After a couple rings it went to voice mail, so I decided to leave a message. "Dan, I just read your note. Please, please don't leave. I talked to Beth today and I realized you were right, she _is _using me. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you." By now tears were running down my face and my voice was starting to shake. "Dan, please, p_lease_ come home."


	14. A Place To Stay

_A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is so short! I ran out of imagination. ~Enjoy~_

_Chapter 14: A Place To Stay_

_**~Dan's POV~**_

I walked down the street, my bag still slinged over my shoulder. As I turned the corner to go to the bus stop, my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I took it out and the caller ID said Phil was calling. I bit my lip, deciding whether or not I should answer. _He could be super mad that I ran away... but on the other hand he could be calling to say he misses me... _

When I didn't answer for a few minutes it went to voice mail. I sighed. _I'll just listen to it later. _

I put my phone back in my pocket and waited for the bus, which came a few minutes later. _It's only downhill from here._

The bus ride was boring. When we got to my stop I got off and walked down the street to my destination. I arrived a few minutes later and walked up to the door. I knocked, hoping someone was home.

A few minutes later, PJ opened the door. "Oh, hey Dan! What are you doing here?"

"You think I could stay here for a little while?" I asked, biting my lip again. It was such a bad habit.

He looked down at my bag, then back up to me. "Sure, come on in." he said, letting me in. I walked in, setting my bag down and taking off my shoes. "So would you like to tell me what happened?"

I looked at him, then down at the floor. "Um, just some problems with Phil..."

"What happened?"

"You know Beth? Phil's girlfriend?" he nodded. "Well... I think she's been using Phil, but everytime I try to talk to him about it, he gets so upset, and now I just wanted some place to stay."

He pursed his lips, eyeing me. "Anything else?"

I debated whether or not to tell him the second part. _He's my friend, he'll understand..._

"Well, there is this other problem too..."

"What kind of problem?"

"I've kinda been having these... _feelings _for Phil, however corny that may sound, but ever since Beth came along, I've been so depressed keeping these feelings bottled up, and I finally just snapped and left. And now here I am."

PJ nodded. "Did you tell Phil about this?"

"No. Well, kinda. I left him a note explaining everything before I left. I don't even know if he read it, but he'll find it eventually." I shrugged.

"Maybe that's why everything got out of hand."

"What do you mean?"

"If he knew about this, he probably wouldn't have gotten so mad. You know Phil, he could never stay mad at you. You're his _best friend_, Dan."

"Yeah, but it's not like I could just say 'hey Phil, by the way I think I'm in love with you'. You know how weird it would be to talk about that kind of stuff?"

"It worked with me and Chris." he shrugged.

"That's true... but I don't have the courage that you do."

"Dan, I think you should atleast talk to Phil about this before anything else happens. Now come on, I'll set you up in the other room for the night." he said.

"Okay, just give me a second." I said.

He nodded and went off. I pulled out my phone, which said I had one new voice message. I reluctantly decided to listen to it.

"_Dan, I just read your note. Please, please don't leave. I talked to Beth today and I realized you were right, she is using me. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. Dan, please, please come home." _Then the call ended.

_Was he... crying? _I thought, exiting out of my voice mail. _Wait, he broke up with Beth? _

I dialed the house phone. It rang a couple times, then it picked up. _"H-hello?"_ Phil's voice answered, shaking.

"Hey Phil." I smiled.


	15. A Phantastic Ending

_Chapter 15: A Phantastic Ending_

"_D-dan?" _Phil stuttered .

"Yeah, it's me." I said softly. "I just got your message. What happened with Beth?"

"_She came by work today and asked for _more_ money. Can you believe that?! And then I realized you were right. How could I be so stupid, Dan..."_

"You aren't stupid, Phil, you're just a good person. She doesn't deserve you if she's just there for your money."

Phil sniffed. "_Thanks, Dan. I just can't believe I didn't see it before..." _A long pause came through before Phil continued. "_Dan, about the other part of your note..." _

_Oh crap, he's talking about my confession... _I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to block out the embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry about th-"

"_Don't apologize, Dan. You can't help feeling like that. And... I've sorta been thinking and... I think we might be able to work it out." _

My eyes popped open. "What?"

"_I'm just saying, maybe we could give it a go. I mean, you're my best friend, what could be better than being with your best friend?" _

"But I thought you weren't gay?"

"_Uh, yeah, about that... I'm... bisexual." _he said quietly._ "I just never told you because I didn't want you to think I was weird..."_

"I wouldn't think you're weird." I smiled.

"_So, do you think you can come home? Please?" _

"Of course. I'll be home as soon as possible."

"_See you then." _

"Okay." I hit _end call_ and sighed. _These things only happen in sappy love movies..._

Just then PJ walked in. "What'cha doing?"

"I just got off the phone with Phil." I smiled.

"Oh? Did you guys talk things out?"

"Yeah. It turns out I was worrying over nothing," I paused. "Uh, about the whole 'needing a place to stay' thing, I don't really need it anymore." I bit my lip, hoping he wouldn't be upset.

"I know." he said simply.

"What? What do you mean you know?"

"I might have been listening to you while you were on the phone..."

"Oh, okay. Does that mean your not upset?"

"Upset? Why would I be upset?" he laughed. "Go home to Phil and get things sorted out."

"Thanks PJ." I smiled, picking up my bag and slipped my shoes back on.

_Time to go home._

I got back to the apartment a little while later. I walked up to the door, searching my pocket for my key. Then I realized that I didn't bring my key. I reluctantly knocked on the door and waited a few seconds.

The door opened and I was greeted by a smiling Phil. "I'm glad you're home." he said after letting me in.

"Me too." I smiled.

As I set my bag down by the door and took my shoes and coat off, I took a breath of relief. _Good to be back._

Then Phil tackled me into a hug. "I missed you."

"I was only gone for a couple hours." I said, hugging him back.

"It felt like a lot more when I thought you weren't coming back."

We let go of each other and smiled. "So where do we go from here?" I asked.

"I'd ike to try out a relationship... er, if that's okay with you." Phil said shyly.

"I would loved that." I said. He looked at me, thoughtfully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just never thought it would turn out like this. You know, having my best friend as a boyfriend."

"Funny how things work out, huh." I smiled.

Phil hugged me again, this time with less force. "Don't ever leave again."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

_~TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2~_


End file.
